Grammar overview
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A general overview of the grammar of Neyandan. To be updated as I develop the language.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 5 Nov 2023, 17:22.
[comments] hpensgrammar
1. Grammar overview
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Word order
Word order in Neyandan is very free. SOV is often the default and is most commonly used, but other orders wouldn't necessarily be seen as especially strange or hard to comprehend. SOV is, however, the most often used in formal contexts or in writing.
More common:
weis ettes milinee leeganda nul rihezand
we-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument the-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few soldier-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few watch-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)-FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech home come-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current
"we will watch the soldiers come home"
Less common:
weis leeganda ettes milinee rihezand nul
we-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument watch-1PFirst person plural (person)
we (inclusive or exclusive)-FTFuture tense (tense)
action occurring after the moment of speech the-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few soldier-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few come-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current home
"we will watch the soldiers come home"
Notable contexts where the SOV word order is almost always changed include negations, imperatives and questions, which default to SVO order.
iya ni itsiiun wan etti fiili
they-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument not go-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them-PASTPast tense (tense)
action occurred before moment of speech into the-SGSingular (number)
one countable entity forest
"they did not go into the forest"
hintan ina!
catch-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb him-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient
"catch him!"
huu habis hlaif yah miluk?
do have-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current bread and milk
"do you have bread and milk?"
Pronouns
Pronouns are retained in certain circumstances in Neyandan, but not others. For example, all pronouns are usually retained in formal contexts...
ik pan izwis ath izwara tizlen. yus helteran routiþ snimyan.
I-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument to you-2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural)-ACCAccusative (case)
TRANS direct object; patient as your-2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural)-GENGenitive (case)
possessive leader / you-2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural)-NOMNominative (case)
TRANS subject, INTR argument leave-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb need-2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural)-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current quickly
"I am speaking to you as your leader. you all need to leave quickly"
...in almost all other speech, first person singular pronouns may be omitted, but others are retained...
audag wiյa himaga. audag wiþu wiյis?
happy be-1SFirst person singular (person)
speaker, signer, etc.; I-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current today. happy are you be-2SSecond person singular (person)
addressee (you)-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current
"i'm happy today. are you happy?"
...and in very casual contexts, such as conversations among friends, almost all pronouns may be omitted, with much meaning being left down to inflection and implication.
rihezan pan etti ham! Nubo yah werost!
come-INFInfinitive (TAM)
non-tensed verb to the-SGSingular (number)
one countable entity village / Nubo and wait-1DFirst person dual (person)
we two (inclusive or exclusive)-PRPRPresent progressive (tense/aspect)
"come to the village! Nubo and I are waiting for you!"
Pluralisation
Plurals in Neyandan are marked with the suffix -ee. In words ending in consonants, it is simply appended to the end (e.g. pogkow "book" becomes pogkowee "books"). In words ending in vowels other than e, the -ee suffix replaces the final vowel (e.g. peymu "girl" becomes peymee "girls"). In words ending in e, the -ee suffix becomes -e (e.g. mare "sea" becomes maree "seas"). Finally, in words ending in vowels with e as their second-to-last letter such that adding the -ee suffix would result in an illegal triple e, the suffix is added with the hyphen preserved and pronounced as a glottal stop (e.g. peu "family" becomes pe-ee "families").
Articles
Neyandan has a singular definite article, etti, and a plural definite article, ettes, but has no indefinite article. Instead, sentences that would need an indefinite article in English either use no article or use a numeral.
ettes barnee riizosandi uuta
the-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few child-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few play-3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them-PRPRPresent progressive (tense/aspect) outside
"the children are playing outside"
yeinar milin wiյiդ mit sara awa etti tos
there soldier be-3SThird person singular (person)
neither speaker nor addressee-PRESPresent tense (tense)
current with weapon in the town
"there is a soldier with a weapon in the town" ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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